


Parents

by SudokuOcaton



Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Gen, Injury, Oh Dear, This Has Probably Been Done Before but Whatever, most of these characters aren't that important in the story sorry, poor remi, tags/rating may change later, the gang's all here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:21:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27183067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SudokuOcaton/pseuds/SudokuOcaton
Summary: Real or not, raising a child is hard work.A story about Sayu and her team. Some other people show up, too.
Comments: 21
Kudos: 102





	1. The Start of It All

In the middle of the night, a hooded girl makes her way towards a large, brightly lit building. When she arrives at the door, she looks around to make sure nobody is watching. After confirming that the coast is clear, she quickly slides her authentication card into the security device, and rushes into the building.

Now inside the virtual sea, she stops to marvel. "...It really is massive. I mean, I knew it was big, but it's even larger than it looked through a monitor. And it's very pretty in here, too...Remi really is amazing."

Extending the terminal mounted on her arm, the girl summons a transport device. After stepping on, she slides down the newly created ramp with ease.

Now at the second layer of platforms, past a majority of the security devices, the girl slows down to sightsee once more. She bends down and touches the ground for a moment.

_...Smooth and slightly warm. Not exactly what I expected… _

Then, she stands up, and walks over to some of the nearby "plants."

_...The exact same. I suppose textures would be too hard to generate, now that I think about it. _

After laying down her backpack, the girl lies down. She stares at the digital sky, complete with its own unmoving sun. Alone with her thoughts, the girl wonders.

_ How much effort did this take to make? More importantly, which one of us made it? I'd guess Remi, but Sofa could have done a good amount of it too. _

_...Well, I can just ask them later. I've got other things to be doing. _

After some rest, the girl picks up her backpack and walks over to the edge of the second layer. Again, she summons a ramp and slides down.

Now, the girl stands at the beginning of the third layer. Without stopping, she heads straight to the edge of the first platform, where a transport device is already present. She hesitates for a moment.

_ Oh, I remember this place. I wonder what those two are doing now? I was too focused on repairs to pay attention to what happened the rest of the week...well, apart from the satellite incident. _

After reminiscing, the girl activates the device, and rides the ramp one more time.

"Here. This place looks big enough." The girl removes her backpack and places it on the ground. From there, she carefully removes its contents one after another.

"Looks like we're good to go. Connect to...this one, I guess? It's the only one here. Good. Reload everything...done. And now, the moment of truth."

After a sharp inhale, the girl pushes a button on the laptop screen. Shortly afterwards, the building's most complex system, inhabitant, and master appears.

"...Sayu."

The pink and blue virtual mermaid idol doesn't respond. She isn't capable of doing so, after all.

"...Hey." a boy says from behind the girl.

"Oh, there you are, Remi. I was worried I was gonna have to start without you."

"Haha! Really? That's funny, cause you walked right by me without noticing me earlier."

In an obviously sarcastic tone, the girl rebuts: "Oh. Of course, how could I have forgotten. Silly me."

"Alright, alright. Lighten up, friend. Shouldn't you be more excited?"

"...Yes, but I'm too worried right now. There's like, a billion things that could go wrong."

"Oh, please. The people at the labs assured me that all of the simulations worked fine, given all of the databank files are correct."

"...Well then, Mr. Confident, are all the files 'correct'?"

"Listen, Tila. I've had everything checked at least five times, plus a few more passes on critical sections. Everything should be perfect at this point."

After a lengthy amount of time, Tila finally responds.

"...Let's go." Pulling out a small piece of paper from her pocket, Tila begins to quickly input something onto the laptop. Then, after she's done, she hands the laptop over to Remi. After some quick glances back and forth between his phone and the laptop screen, he responds.

"Looks correct. You want to do the honors?" Tila shakes her head. "No? Okay. Initializing program…"

After hitting the Return key, Remi sets the laptop down. A couple of seconds later, small, intense beams of light begin to appear from the walls, aimed directly at Sayu.

Unfazed, Remi speaks. "Look at that, Tila. Data so dense you can see it with the naked eye."

Tila doesn't respond. Her head is pointed at the floor, and her hands are clasped together as if praying.

The pair continues to wait. Soon, the lights die down. All is silent and still.

And then, like a firework at midnight, the mermaid speaks.

"Hello, world! Ehek!"

Remi is the first to speak. "Hello, Sayu," he says in a slow, calm manner.

"Oh? You know my name? Who are you?"

"...I'm Remi, and this girl next to me is Tila. Nice to meet you."

In a more cheerful tone than before, Sayu proclaims loudly: "Nice to meet you too, Remi and Tila! Hey, can I ask another question?"

"Go ahead," Tila says, with a shaky tone of voice.

"...Are you my parents?"

Before Remi has a chance to answer, Tila breaks down in tears. "Aha...ahahahaha...yes, yes...absolutely, Sayu!"

Remi butts in, eager to make clarifications before things get out of hand. "W-Well, there's more that went into making you, but, I suppose you--" However, he is interrupted by Sayu's eager questioning.

"Oh! Then can I call you mommy and daddy!?"

"Of course, my sweet...sweet Sayu!" Tila says, with tears still flowing down her face.

"Now, hold on, guys! Don't you think I should, y'know, maybe get some say in this too!?"

Tila ignores Remi, opting instead to run straight to her newborn child. Remi isn't fast enough to stop her; he ends up having to chase after her instead. When she arrives at the edge of the platform, she holds her arms out.

"Tila…"

"Mommy? What are you doing?"

Finally snapping back to reality, Tila turns away, embarrassed beyond belief.

"I, uh, wanted a...hug...um…"

Remi puts his hand on Tila's shoulder. "We can work on that later, Tila. Just let me get some stuff done first, okay?"

"...alright…" Tila says softly.

"Anyways, Sayu...sorry about that. I need to ask you a few questions, just to confirm that you're, uh...mentally sound." Remi speaks with some difficulty.

"Uh-huh! Ask away, daddy!"

After wincing a bit, he continues. "...First. What are you?"

Surprised, Sayu speaks once again. "Huh? You don't know already? I'm the aquatic messenger of love, Sayu!" With exaggerated movements, she strikes a cutesy pose while saying this.

"...You're a computer program utilizing a projected avatar inside a virtual space." Remi speaks with increased difficulty.

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Sayu's expression quickly changes to disapproval; it's clear that the mermaid isn't a fan of the current topic.

"Sorry. I just have to get these out of the way for safety purposes."

"Safety?"

"...If you weren't, uh…"okay"...you might end up accidentally hurting people."

"I wouldn't hurt anyone! How horrible!"

Remi says nothing. Having to remind his creation of its digital nature is upsetting; even more so when it has intelligence close to a human's.

In a low voice, Tila walks over and starts to talk to Remi. "Stop it, Remi. You're upsetting her."

"I know. But I need to--"

"She's not going to hurt anyone! I don't think she even knows how!"

"That doesn't mean she can't figure it out!"

"I don't care! Besides, you clearly don't like this either!"

"...Tila, please. I'm not going to get people hurt because I couldn't keep my feelings from preventing me from doing my job."

As Tila and Remi continue to argue, Sayu notices the situation degrading quickly.

_...Stop. Why are you angry? There's no reason. If anything, I should be the angry one. _

Sayu shrinks herself to a human size. Her parents don't notice.

_ That's enough. I'll fix this, right now-- _

Sayu, resolved, rushes at Tila and Remi, separating the two as she dives through them.

**"Sayu!?"** the two say in unison.

After reorienting herself, Sayu floats over to the two with her hands on her hips and an angry frown on her face.

"I don't know what you two are arguing about, but you better stop right now!"

For a few seconds, the three only exchange glances. Then, Remi, exasperated and out of breath, speaks: "...This is pretty shameful, isn't it? Ahaha...the first thing you get to see and remember is your parents acting stupid."

Tila, however, forgets all about the argument. Instead, as Remi speaks, she runs to Sayu, and pulls her into a hug with great force. After a second or two, Sayu returns the favor.

"Mmmm...sorry, Sayu."

"...Okay, mommy."

For a while, the two simply stand there. Remi only watches. After the two finally split, he says only a few words.

"...Can I have a hug too?"


	2. Sayu Wakes Up

"Before we get going, does anyone have any questions?" Remi asks.

Before the team starts their first day of work with Sayu, rather than as Sayu, Remi finds it prudent to clear up any remaining questions.

Sofa, the editor and production manager of the team, speaks up first. "Before anything else, I have to ask...how did we afford this!?"

_...I knew this would come up eventually. Maybe I should just give him the super-condensed version… _

With a sigh, Remi begins to explain. "If I gave you the whole story, we'd be here for an hour and a half, so let me cut to the chase: most of the funding came from private stock investments, cutting-edge labs wanting to test their new tech, and NSR itself."  _ Along with me and Tila's savings accounts… _

"Don't worry. We're still financially stable, guys." Tila, acting as Remi's assistant for this project, reassures everyone.

"Well...alright then. I'll trust you two on this," Sofa responds.

"Actually, that reminds me. How much of our money do we give Sayu?" Tila asks, with no regard to the potential absurdity of the thought.

"U-Uh, well...um, I didn't really...how do I put this...I don't think she's old enough to have a bank account, okay?" Remi, very surprised by the question, stutters over his words like a failing engine.

“*snrk*” Tila is unable to contain her laughter completely, and accidentally alerts Remi.

“W-What’s so funny!?”

“Nothing, nothing...you’re just talking like you really are her dad, that’s all.”

Remi, now visibly red, is quick to try and clear up the misconception. “N-No, that’s...I just thought it would be an apt comparison, i-is all!”

Much to Remi’s dismay, Sofa joins in on the teasing as well. “Yeah, Leader. I thought you said you didn’t want her to call you ‘daddy’?”

“G-Guys, come on--”

“Hey, Remi. Don’t we need a birth certificate for Sayu?” Tila refuses to let up on the offensive front, and pressures Remi until he cracks.

Dodo, the motion capture lead, quietly speaks: “I’m sure that I can fake it, if we can’t get a real one…”

“Good point, Tila. She probably needs to be registered as a citizen, too--”

**“Oh, shut up, you two!”** he yells, anger having overcome patience. “Now, does anybody have any serious questions, or do I just need to hurry up and herd this clown posse to the circus!?”

For a few seconds, silence. Then, from Tila, one word escapes her lips: “Sorry.”

Remi only scoffs in response. To defuse the tense situation, Dodo speaks up. “...Where is Sayu, um, ‘located,’ for lack of a better word?”

Calmed down slightly, Remi answers. “...There’s a small building attached to the stream hub. Once you get past all the security, there's an elevator you can take down. The supercomputer responsible for handling Sayu is located there, underground. I can take you all there, if you want."

"...Um, sure? What an odd suggestion," Dodo says.

"Well, I thought you guys should know about it, for obvious reasons. Besides, there's a shortcut to the main building from the computer room. What about you two?"

Sofa responds with a quiet "Yeah," while Tila only nods her head.

Remi, taking charge once more, asks for a favor. "Alrighty then, let's get going. Oh, and, by the way, could you all keep this a secret? If the location gets out to the public we might have some serious problems."

"Fine by me."

"Of course, Leader."

"...Okay."

\----------

"Well, here we are. Ask me about something if you're curious, but for the love of all that is holy, please don't touch anything. If something here breaks, then…" Remi introduces the rest of the team to Sayu's mainframe.

Sofa, ever the joker, asks Remi, in a somewhat sarcastic tone: "What happens if we do?"

Before Remi has a chance to answer, Tila interjects. "I'll tell you what happens. That outburst earlier is gonna look like 'mild annoyance' by the time we're done."

"...That's about right," Remi says. Then, with no words, Sofa slowly backs away from the device he was standing dangerously close to.

"...So, uh, what is this, anyway?" the editor asks, pointing to the glowing, rectangular device jutting out of the glass floor.

In a manner-of-fact, slightly proud tone, Remi answers: "That? It's one of the main processor clusters. Specifically, cluster 3, responsible for auditory processing and voice synthesis."

"C-Cool," Sofa says, more impressed at his friend's knowledge than the device itself.

Some time passes. A few more questions are asked. Finally, once everyone is done, the group prepares to head into the main building. Most of the group quickly assembles at the door, but one member doesn't show up.

"Hey, Dodo! Are you coming with us or not?" Sofa yells.

"Oh! Sorry...I was just admiring how pretty this looks." The boy continues to look down through the glass floor while walking to the rest of the group.

Dumbfounded, the editor doesn't reply.

Now that everyone is assembled, Remi flips open the terminal mounted on his arm and punches in a few numbers.

Tila, theorizing, says "Oh, there's not a platform outside of this door?"

"Yep," the artist replies bluntly.

"...Falling down would be bad, yes?" Dodo asks.

"Yep. Trust me, I've done it before."

_...Poor Dodo might be scarred for life if he ever falls down there. Maybe I should increase the ramp width a little, just to be safe… _

"Okay, it's ready. Let's go."

Sofa is the first to walk through the door. The rest of the crew follows immediately after. When they step through, they notice something wrong very quickly.

Tila is the first to say something. "Hey, wait a minute...just how far down are we!? I can barely see the ground!"

Remi is the only not to panic; he's used this entrance a few times before. "Relax. Just ride the ramp; we'll be to the top soon enough."

Cautiously, Tila steps on to the accelerated ramp. As if gravity was a null concept, she slides up automatically at a nearly sixty degree angle. Sofa steps on next, then Dodo. Finally, Remi jumps on, locking the door remotely as he slides away.

After a few minutes, the crew reaches the main layer.

"...Huh? Where is she?" Tila asks.

Dodo, ever observant, already noticed that Sayu was sleeping on the ground to the left of his position. "Um...I believe she's asleep."

"Wait...she sleeps? I didn't think she needed to," Sofa says, surprised.

"Oh! Yeah...We kinda forgot to tell you guys. She needs time to sort out and discard memories, just like us," Tila explains.

Quietly, Dodo speaks once again. "Oh...she's waking up."

Sayu, stretching her arms, slowly rises off the ground. Having taken a liking to a smaller stature, she remains human-sized. Drowsily, the mermaid speaks: "*yawn*...Hey, guys...wait. I...um, what time is it?"

Tila, with a gentle but slightly stern tone of voice, reminds Sayu of the time. "It's 1'o'clock in the afternoon, sweetie."

For a few moments, the look on the idol's face is a look of slight shock. Then, terror. "Oh no! Oh no oh no oh no! I overslept! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'll get everything ready, just gimme a second…"

"Sayu,” Tila says as Sayu rushes through the maintenance tasks assigned to her as master of the stream hub.

"...How did I forget!? I knew I should have set an alarm! Let's see, lights normal, body's okay...Oh! The platforms! Geez, this day's going great so far! Oh, and--"

"Sayu!" Tila yells, finally managing to snatch her child's attention.

"A-Ah! What is it, mommy!?"

"Calm down. It's not that big of a deal. If you go through everything all rushed like that, you're going to screw something up and won't realize it until it's too late." With her arms crossed, Tila lectures Sayu like...well, like a mother.

“Oh...alright then. Let me double-check everything…” The mermaid, now significantly calmer, checks over everything once more. As she does this, the rest of the team simply stares at Tila, partly in bewilderment, and partly in amazement.

Remi is the first to say anything. “You, uh...wow. That was impressive. I was just gonna wait for her to calm down.”

Hearing these words, Tila, flustered, quietly says "Um...t-thanks. I just, uh...didn't want--"

"It's okay. You don't have to explain yourself. I think we all know why you did it, Mrs. Tila," the artist says smugly, interrupting Tila's stuttering.

"Alright. Let's--wait, that was a jab at me, wasn't it...geez."

"Haha. Consider it payback for earlier."

As she pulls her hood up and backs away from the rest of the group, the girl responds with a loud "Hmph."

"Okay! I'm done!" Sayu announces to everyone else. "So, what are we doing today?"

Remi, taking the lead, answers: "Well, we'd like to remake one of our first music videos. It should help to have a point of reference, right?"

"Hmmm...yeah, I guess."

"Good. Let me just pull it up, then…"

\----------

Tila breathes a sigh of relief.  _ Man...I thought I was decent at singing, but teaching somebody how… _

"I'm so tired...maybe I'll just sleep here," she says.

Remi, who is only slightly less exhausted than the vocalist, responds sluggishly. "Now, hold on...I don't really have the energy to care about where you sleep right now, but can you at least help me carry Sofa to the exit, first?"

Dodo stands next to the editor, clearly waiting for help.

"...Hey, Sayu," Tila says with a smirk on her face.

"Yes, mommy?"

"I'll stay here and sleep with you if you bring Sofa to the exit."

"R-Really!? Okay!" Sayu, now very motivated, quickly enlarges, to the point where she could easily carry a human with one hand.

"H-Hold on! *sigh*...If you're going to do that, Sayu, then...just be careful, please. Humans don't generally respond too well to shaking or high speeds," Remi warns.

"Okay! I'll be careful!" she says as she quickly picks up Sofa and floats off to the exit.

Exasperated, Remi says goodbye to Tila before beginning the trek to the entrance. Dodo follows close behind, quiet the entire time.

Now alone, Tila spends some time in thought.  _...Maybe he was right. I hope Sofa ends up okay. He's surprisingly resilient, but Sayu is a bit...intense sometimes. _

Eventually, the girl drifts off to sleep. Noticing this, Sayu, having just returned, dims the lighting, returns to human size, and quietly lies down next to her.

It wasn't necessary; sleeping, for an AI, is as simple as flipping a switch. However, if she had to pretend, then she most certainly would pretend.

"Good night…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the positive feedback! I'm glad there are other people that want to see more of Sayu and her team.


	3. Halt and Catch Fire

_ Two'o'clock. Middle of the night. Exhausted. _

_ So why am I still awake? _

Remi thinks to himself while slouched in his chair, staring up at the ceiling.

_ Ever since that night...I've been feeling off. But I can't pinpoint why. Guilt over how I treated Sayu? Just stress? Frustration over being called dad? Is frustration even the right term, even? What if it's something else? Can I even know!? _

_ … _

_ I was never good at dealing with emotions. _

Just then, the screen in front of him lights up. A new email. Quickly opening it, he finds the message to be completely empty.

"...Weird. I'll ask Sofa about it later." After closing the email, he shuts the computer off. He stretches as he stands up out of his chair; then, flips the room's light switch and flops onto his bed.

\----------

"Alright, Sayu, we're ready. Go ahead and connect." Remi speaks to Sayu through his own laptop. Connected to said laptop is a slightly modified version of an advanced hologram projector, mainly used for Sayu's real-life appearances, such as NSR's auditions.

"Okay! Here goes nothing!" the mermaid responds.

"Your turn, Sofa." Remi steps away and lets Sofa into the laptop.

"On it, Leader," Sofa replies. Hologram controls are easy; he's done it a million times before. However, passing full controls over to a networked source has the potential to quickly become disastrous.  _ Safeguards set. Admin command verification on. Good. _

After typing something indiscernible, the projector starts to loudly hum. The group waits with cautious anticipation.

Sofa continues to stare at the screen.  _ That's a lot of input. I don't think that...no, it should be fine, probably. _

When the device stops making noise, the room is completely silent. However, it is soon broken by the sound of copious amounts of warning notifications from the laptop. At the same time, the projector cuts on.

"W-What the hell is this!?" Remi yells.

"Sayu!? SAYU!? Are you okay!?" Tila screams.

Through the projector, a jittery, unclear, and broken model of the idol comes through. Sofa reads through the warning messages, although not at a pace fast enough to keep up with the influx of new ones.

_ [MAIN/W-MAJOR] 16:23:09 OVERLOADED: can't keep up. Backlogged commands: 1927 _

_ [PHDW/W-MINOR] 16:23:11 TEMP_UNSAFE: CPU temperature exceeds safe value. Safe: 85°, current: 93.7°C. _

"...We've got a problem," Sofa says in a normal tone of voice. Dodo steps over to assist; the other two are too busy panicking.

"What is it?" Dodo asks.

"Way too many commands, some of which are malformed. Did we teach Sayu how to do this?"

"I believe so. Not well, enough, evidently."

"That's what I thought. I'll need time to figure out exactly what the problem is, but…"

"I'm no expert, but shouldn't we shut this thing off?"

Sofa glances over to the warning log once more.

_ [PHDW/FATAL] 16:23:56 ON_FIRE: CPU temperature exceeds maximum structural safety value. Limit: 140°C, current: 206.2°C. *CPU may not actually be on fire. _

"...No, I think this thing is already toast. I'd get out of here if I were you."

"...Understood." With this, Dodo walks out, but not before informing the other members to do the same. While Tila quickly leaves, Remi doesn't, instead opting to go question Sofa.

"What do you mean, it's not safe in here?"

"...Leader, the projector's processor is MELTING. And will probably catch fire soon."

Without saying a word, Remi trots over to the large outlet and unplugs the device. The cord is hot to the touch. Then, he grabs the nearby fire extinguisher, pulls the pin, and fires a most-certainly-overkill amount of dry chemical at the device. Sofa simply watches for a while. Then, he speaks in exasperation.

"...Leader, I didn't...I didn't say it was on fire yet…"

"Better to be safe than sorry."

"Cleaning that stuff up is such a pain though…"

"Worry about that later. Is Sayu alright?"

"You check. I'll go get the cleaning supplies."

"Fine, fine."

Dodo leaves. Thankfully, the laptop was unharmed, so Remi uses it to call Sayu. She quickly responds.

"W-What happened? I got in, but nothing was working!"

"I don't know. That's Sofa's job. I can tell you, however, that the projector is dead."

"Dead!? What do you mean!? Are there more!?"

"Whoa, calm down! The projector doesn't work anymore. We can get another, but...they're a few thousand dollars a pop. It might take a little bit."

"Uuu...I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break it, I swear! I thought I was--"

"It's okay! Don't beat yourself up over it. We should have done more practice anyway."

"...A-Are you sure?"

"Definitely. It's not like we can do anything about it now anyway. We'll try again when we can, alright?"

"...Okay, daddy! I'll be more careful next time."

"Good. I'll call the rest of the team in here, so they can talk. See you later."

"Bye!"

With this, Remi leaves. On his way out, he informs the others of what happened, and directs them to the laptop. He leaves once more to go help get the cleaning supplies. On his way there, he notices a mark on his right palm. It hurts to touch.

"...Huh. Guess I burned myself..."

\----------

"Hey, uh, guys? There's something weird here."

In the middle of the digital sea, the team lazes around, clearly demoralized from yesterday's events.

"Yeah? What is it, Sofa?" Tila responds.

"I'm looking through the logs from yesterday, and I'm seeing a strange pattern."

"Well, the first thing I'm going to ask is: if you explain it to us, will we understand?"

"...I'll try. Basically, each command that the laptop received was received many, many times. Easily about twenty of the exact same instruction one after another. It's really strange."

"...Sayu? Sound familiar?" Remi asks after a brief pause.

"Well...I might have been a little hasty, but...I'm not that impatient!"

"Right. In that case…" Remi pulls out his phone, and calls someone.

"Hello? Remi here. We've got a problem...Kind of. Strange network behavior...Perform a security checkup, please...An hour? Got it. Bye." He hangs up, and slowly turns to Sayu.

"...Sorry, Sayu. The tech support team will be here within the hour to check your systems…"

"H-Huh? But why!? I don't wanna go to sleep!" the mermaid says, clearly agitated at the thought of being shut down.

"Listen. If some kind of malicious program made its way in, it could do a lot worse than just destroy a projector," Sofa chimes in.

"But...but...it's scary...It's not like when I'm resting...It's like, like, I'm not even...real…" Sayu falls to the ground, curled up.

Nobody moves. Nobody speaks. Just the sound of muffled crying.

…

Dodo steps forward. He crouches down, and starts to speak in the kindest tone he can muster.

"Please cheer up, Sayu. Humans can go through something similar."

"...H-Huh? R-Really?"

"Yes. Doctors put us to sleep using medicine so they can do something called 'surgery.' If they do it wrong, we don't wake up again."

"...Haha. That's...reassuring, somehow. Thanks."

"...Yes, that was...slightly morbid. I apologize."

Sayu gets up off the ground and begins to speak once more. "Sorry. I'm better now."

"U-Um...good. We'll see you later, then…" Tila says, slightly ashamed.

Remi, on the other hand, immediately starts to walk off without saying a word. Tila follows. After quickly packing up the laptop, Sofa starts to leave, too.

Dodo offers a few more words of reassurance. "It is okay to be afraid. We all are, all the time. It is natural human behavior…"

As Dodo starts to walk off, Sayu asks a question. "Hey, um, Dodo?..."

"Hm?"

"Can you make sure mommy and daddy are doing okay? They look really sad."

"...Of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about all the technobabble, I couldn't help it. I make no claims to the accuracy of any of it, though.


	4. In the Forest

"This is...incredible." Tila, along with the rest of her team, stand in front of a veritable forest of undersea plant life.

"Oh, you like it? Thank you! I spent weeks working on this," Sayu says proudly.

"A...AMAZING!" Dodo, floored with the quality of her creation, tries to run off into the forest, but is stopped short by Sayu herself.

"H-Hold on! I need to talk to you first!"

"Oh, er...s-sorry…" Dodo backs off, embarrassed.

"I have an idea," Sayu says.

"Oh yeah? What is it?" Tila asks.

"...Hide and go seek!"

No response. The team is stunned. Sayu continues her explanation: "I'll give all of you a ten minute head start. Then, I'll go looking...If I can't find you all within an hour, you win!"

Dodo replies first. "...I accept your proposal," he says.

Tila is next. "S-Sure," she says, slightly uneasily. "It's safe in here, right?"

"Yep! Nothing dangerous at all!" Sayu answers.

"Alright then! I'll definitely participate!" Sofa says very, very enthusiastically.

"Well, someone's excited!" Tila says.

"How couldn't I be!?"

"Alright! Then it's settled! One, two…" Sayu interrupts, starting the game.

"H-Hold on! I didn't agree--" Remi says, stuttering.

"Too late now! You're coming with me," Tila yells as she grabs Remi by the arm and drags him along into the undersea forest, heading north-west.

Dodo and Sofa head north-east. The two don't go together out of any tactical merit; it's just that there are only two real paths from the entrance.

Once everyone is out of earshot, Sayu stops counting. She doesn't need to; she can keep and tell time to nanosecond accuracy if necessary. Waiting for the allotted time to expire, she decides to change her form to better suit the dark environment that she's in.

Her tail splays open, settling into a spiral pattern; her bright, pastel colors change into more saturated, luminescent colors, and her model is overlaid with a pattern of circuitry.

"Hmm...what a strange feeling," she says to herself. Her voice sounds noticeably more filtered and synthesized. "But it is very well made...I'll have to thank everyone later. Plus, it should be perfect for what I have planned...ehek~!"

\----------

Together, Tila and Remi walk through the forest of coral, kelp, and other undersea plant life.

"Hey, can we, uh...take a break? I'm not built for this kinda stuff…" Remi asks.

"Oh, sure. We can hide here for now," Tila responds, heading into the tall foliage nearby. Remi follows.

The two lie down on the ground, attempting to conceal themselves as best as possible. After a few minutes of silence, Remi speaks up.

"Shouldn't we split up? If she finds one of us here, she'll find the other one real quick."

"Oh, now you're getting into this, huh?"

"Hey! You said that I didn't have a choice, right?"

"Hahaha! Fair enough. I don't really feel like splitting up now, though. This place is pretty, but being alone here would give me the creeps."

"Really? Well, in that case, we'll stick together. We should get going, too...this place doesn't seem like a great hiding spot."

Tila stands up, evidently agreeing with the statement. "There's a place that looked great not too far from here. Wanna head there?"

Remi stands up shortly afterward. "I'll take your word for it. Let's go."

The two head back along the path they came, and soon, they take a turn into the foliage, and come to an opening in the ground that is large enough for a few people to sit down.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Tila asks.

"Yeah, but...this almost seems too convenient," Remi responds.

"Well...Sayu made the place. I think we're at a disadvantage no matter where we hide."

"That's true...Hey, I wonder how the other two are doing?"

\----------

"Sofa, please. We are supposed to be hiding," Dodo says in an annoyed tone.

"But...look at this, Dodo!" Sofa points at one of the pieces of coral on the ground. "The holes aren't textures: they're actually part of the model! The attention to detail is staggering!"

"I can tell. I'm angry because you're giving away our position."

"Oh, she's probably chasing Tila and Leader right now. Don't worry about it."

"And how can you be so certain?"

"...Eh, gut feeling."

Dodo's eye twitches.  _ How can he be so oblivious and uncaring? Our dignity and pride are on the line! _ "...I'm leaving."

"W-Wait! Hold up!" Sofa says, rushing to keep up with Dodo's high walking speed.

"If all you are going to do is blabber, then do not follow me. I will not be compromised by your ineptitude."

"B-But I'm scared of being alone! Don't leave me!"

"Oh, I have a solution for that. Just keep yelling as you are now; Sayu will surely find you very quickly." Dodo speaks in a sarcastic, yet bitter tone.

Sofa doesn't respond. He only continues to walk alongside his friend.

After some time, Dodo stops dead in his tracks.

"What's wrong?" Sofa asks.

"...Movement. Hide yourself, quickly."

"On it," he says. He attempts to hide himself using a large piece of coral nearby. Dodo uses his thin, flexible stature to hide inside of the nearby foliage.

\----------

The time is up, and Sayu is more than ready to start the chase. She decides to head down the east path first...for no particular reason.

As she travels, she moves slowly to make as little noise as possible. Simply finding her friends wouldn't be very exciting; she wants to scare the daylights out of them! Pretty soon, she hears talking in the distance.

"...Can you be quiet? We're just asking to be found…" Dodo, along with someone else. Probably Sofa, all things considered.

She slows down further so she can follow from a distance.

After some time, Sayu remembers something:  _ Oh yeah! There's a time limit… _ She intentionally makes some noise in an attempt to make Dodo and Sofa hide themselves. It works!

This is the time. She quickly moves to their last positions, and listens very carefully.  _...Breathing from the right. _ She swims a few feet over. A suspiciously large piece of coral lies in the center of her view.  _ I've got you now… _

She puts her hand on the coral, and takes a deep breath…

**"GWAAAAAAHHH!"**

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Sofa screams, and tries to run away. He doesn't get very far, however, before being snatched by the shirt, and dragged back. Sayu turns him to face her.

In a playful voice, she says softly: "I found you…" Nearly immediately, Sofa goes limp, passing out from fear.

"...Haha." Sayu laughs quietly. Gently placing Sofa down, she notes his position and listens for any movement. Soon, she hears rustling from behind her.

After estimating Dodo's location and trajectory, she swoops backwards at incredible speed, stopping just short of his backside.

Dodo, in dramatic fashion, slowly turns around to face his pursuer. Once their eyes are locked, they stare at each other for a few seconds. Before Sayu can think of anything to say, Dodo speaks: "Well. It appears I have been caught."

Sayu, flabbergasted, blubbers out a response. "Uh...y-yeah. I, um, uh…"

"What? No scary talk?"

"Well...I just, expected you to be, more...well, scared?"

"Oh...sorry. It seems Sofa was scared, though…"

"Yep! I think I went a little too far, though...He fainted."

"...I cannot carry him back myself. Please assist me."

"Of course! I'll bring you both back to the start lickety-split!"

"Wait, hold on--"

But it's too late. Sayu grabs Dodo and starts to quickly swim south, grabbing Sofa on the way.

\----------

"No response...I guess their phones are on silent. Makes sense," Remi says before leaning back on the cave wall.

"Hmm...how long has it been?" asks Tila, who is leaning in a similar fashion.

"...About half an hour since we started."

"Really? Man. Time flies when you're having fun, I guess…"

"..."

Some more time passes.

"Hey, Tila?"

"Yeah?"

"...Thanks for being here." Remi is fidgeting around; it's clear that he finds the topic awkward.

"Um...thanks, but what's that even supposed to mean?"

"I mean, um...if you weren't here, I don't think Sayu would...be okay."

"...Oh. That's what--right. Listen...stop underselling yourself. You're just as important here."

"You think so? Cause it seems like the only things I ever have to say to her are...unpleasant."

"Well, those 'unpleasant' things are still important formative experiences, regardless of how nice they are."

"...Haha."

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just...you're taking this parenting thing so seriously…"

"Oh? I should be saying the same to you, Mr. I'm-Worried-I'm-Being-Too-Mean-To-My-Child."

"...You really are good at this." Ending the conversation, Remi glances to the left. There, he sees a pink and blue head staring from the cave entrance.

"Sayu."

"..."

"How long have you been there?"

"...I heard the whole thing."

_...Of course. The one time I try to give my feelings to someone truthfully, and...argh. _

His face goes red, and he soon curls up in embarrassment.

"Have you found the other two?" asks Tila.

"Yep. I brought them back to where we started already."

"Cool. You might need to do that again."

"Well...alright then, mommy!"

Once again, Sayu grabs the two and swims off speedily, much to the chagrin of her passengers.

\----------

"Well, that was fun. You're really good at this, Sayu," Tila says, having finally met up with the rest of her team.

"Oh, thank you!"

"...Hey, wait a minute...where's Sofa?"

"We have already taken the liberty of transporting him out," Dodo responds.

"H-Huh!? What happened!?"

Sayu explains: "I, um...scared him a little too much…"

"Oh? Now this is a story I gotta hear on the way back. C'mon, let's go."

As the four hop to the mainland platform, the lighting returns to normal. After everyone arrives, Sayu dematerializes the undersea forest they came from, and changes back into her original form. Tila leads the way. Dodo and Sayu follow closely behind, with Remi lagging behind, head still hung in embarrassment.

On the way, Dodo asks Tila a question. "What happened to Remi? He seems ill."

"Oh, he's just embarrassed. Give him a day or two, he'll be fine."

_...Yeah. Whatever you say, Tila… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they're living in my head rent-free, help


	5. The World, Revolving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Large tonal shift ahead. Please be wary.

Once more, a boy sits in a dim room, illuminated mainly by the glow of his monitor.

_ Everything came back clear, so… _

He thoroughly searches through files, desperate to find anything out of place.

_...why am I so worried? _

Remi had been on edge for days. A sense of uneasiness that he just can't shake off has held him back from most things.

_ It was just a minor hiccup… _

That, combined with his parenting woes, only amplifies his insomnia problems.

_...right? _

It's gotten to the point where it's worrying everybody else, too. And he hates that more than everything else.

_ Right? _

He opens a file titled "user_access.log."

_ I've looked through this a dozen times already. Stop. _

He doesn't, of course. No matter how much he talks himself down, he can't shake the feeling: something in here is wrong.

_ Look. There's nothing abnormal here. Just leave and go to bed, you nitwit. _

There's something else, too. He isn't even cognizant of it right now, though.

_...Nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing. All clear, just like the last five times you checked it. _

He wishes he hadn't spent so much time studying how her mainframe works. He could barely operate an iron, yet he can recite the meanings of nearly a hundred of the most common three-digit error codes that the thing could spit out.

_ I'm going to die if this keeps up. I need a break, even if I don't want it. _

He minimizes the files, and opens his email program. There, he finds a new message. It's very strange; it has an obviously spoofed sender address, and isn't verified by any source at all. It's a miracle it even made it to his inbox. Regardless, he opens it.

_ Bye bye! _

The first thing he notices are the cold sweats. The chills. He wanted out of here as fast as he possibly could.

The next thing he notices is his phone's warning alarm going off. There's a message that reads: "ALERT: SYSTEM INTRUSION FROM MAIN INTERFACE - POLICE SCRAMBLED"

The third thing he notices is the knife in his hand.

\----------

The boy runs through the streets. He doesn't care that he's pushing everyone out of the way, or that somebody might recognize him.

No, he has one objective right now.

Sayu.

The thought of somebody hurting her is enough to push him over the edge, to completely destroy what rationality he had left. No, if somebody were to hurt her, he would hurt them many, many times back.

His body isn't ready for this. Even going this far is enough to make him want to collapse and die. But the thought of oxygen deprivation isn't on his mind right now.

…

He pushes himself further. He makes it to the backdoor elevator of the stream hub. The electronic lock is damaged and nonfunctional. He steps inside.

As the elevator moves, he stands perfectly still. His breaths are shallow and ragged; his grip is so tight that his hand goes numb.

It's not important right now. As the elevator slows down, the boy braces himself. There is something behind the door, and he fully intends to end whatever it is.

…

The door opens. Before he has a chance to register the figure in front of him, he lunges, knife aimed at the expected center of mass of a human.

It bounces with a loud clang. Surprised, the boy looks up to identify his opponent.

His opponent, now aware, turns around quickly. The bright lighting of the mainframe's components creates a glare on its black, metallic body.

"...Hmph. You tore through my cloak."

The boy doesn't respond; his eyes are trained with deadly intent, searching for a weak point on the being's chassis.

From aboveground, police sirens blare. The elevator is recalled to the top.

"Well. I can't stay here for much--"

Interrupted. The boy's knife slashes through his opponent's visual receptors.

"Gah! Stupid little--"

Interrupted again. He doesn't want to hear the garbage that comes out of this thing's mouth. It only serves to fuel his rage further. Utilizing the opening, he stabs through the newly opened sockets in the creature's head.

Quickly, the boy is kicked back with incredible force. What air left in his lungs is now gone. Breathing becomes excruciating, and his mind goes hazy.

"Die."

The sharp, distorted voice kicks his mind back into full gear. He rolls left along the wall.

At the same time, the being fires a laser barrage directly at his previous location. If he had moved a quarter of a second too late, he would have been vaporized.

"Where the hell did you go, you brat!?"

The boy's opponent stumbles around, evidently hampered by the loss of vision.

The elevator door opens. People in blue clothes and vests come through, fully armed.

"This is the police! Hands up, now!"

The being doesn't move. It only stares.

"I said NOW!"

A noise. It sounds like charging.

"...Flashbang, get d--"

A blinding light. The flash shreds what scraps of consciousness the boy has left.

\----------

When Remi wakes up again, the first thing he notices is the crying.

"...Tila, please. He's hurt, but he's not--"

"That's not the point! He could have! He could have died! He could have…" She is nearly illegible through the sobbing.

_...Something is definitely broken, _ he thinks to himself. The IV in his arm and the flexible cast around his chest make that clear.

He can't remember what happened last. Right now, his head hurts so much that if he thinks too hard, he'll probably pass out again. Even still, he powers through the pain and speaks.

"...What about...Sayu?..."

The first thing that comes to mind is not why he's hurt. It's Sayu.

"H-Huh? R-Remi?" Tila looks to the side, and sees Remi, eyes open and awake.

"REMI!" She is the first to come rushing over. Before he can gather the strength to say more, she pulls him into an awkward, one-sided hug.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're alright!"

The rest of the crew runs over. Sofa is crying, and Dodo is trying his hardest to hold back tears.

After some time, Tila backs off. Dodo is the next to speak, the typical solemness in his voice wavering heavily: "...Sayu is...fine. She is, um...as shaken as we are, right now."

Remi musters his strength again. "...Let me...see her." He can't figure out why she is his top priority. She should be fine, right?

"...Of course, Leader," Sofa says, trying his hardest to sound okay. He grabs the laptop from the desk they were sitting at, quickly boots up the communication program, and gently places the laptop on Remi's stomach. He grunts.

"S-Sorry, Leader!"

"It's...it's fine." With pain, Remi raises his left arm, and logs in with a click of the trackpad.

"...Daddy? Daddy!?"

"...Good. You're okay."

"DADDY!" Sayu nearly crashes into the viewport in elation; she tried to hug Remi.

"...Haha...sorry. I'm in, uh...bad shape right now...I can't get over to you." Talking this much is extremely straining on his weak body. 

"You have no idea how worried I was about you!" She's trying to hold back tears, but failing. Her words become harder to make out.

"Sorry, Sayu...I really…"

Remi starts to fall asleep once more. Even this was too much of a toll on his unrecovered body.

As he slips into unconsciousness, feelings flood him. Guilt, fear, rage, hatred, sadness.

He had never been good at handling emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. I just really wanted to write something more gritty. It’s a little short, but maybe that’s a good thing...


	6. Red Light, Green Light

"Beta. Did you do it?"

The android shakes their head. "...No. Security was too tight, and some boy interrupted me. I did manage to download some info, though."

"...Disappointing. Fine, hand it over and wait for further instructions. Do not fail again."

They don't say anything. After handing over a small, unmarked flash drive, they leave.

The man turns around, and plugs the drive into the large desktop in the room. He sorts through file after file, discarding most of them.

"Nothing. This is all useless…"

\----------

Remi had pieced together most of what happened, using both what he was told and what he remembered. He had went down to attack some combat android in Sayu's control room, and ended up with broken ribs and a light concussion.

_ But why?, _ he thinks. Nobody could identify the mysterious person, and they fled shortly after the police arrived. More importantly, he can't figure out why he was down there in the first place. No matter how much he thinks about it, he can't remember. The night is still a blur; only bits and pieces had returned to him.

Remi gets out of the hospital bed. His recovery is progressing smoothly, although walking around is still painful. As he stretches to the best of his ability, he hears knocking on the door.

"Oh, uh...come in!"

Two people come through the door. One red, one green.

"Heya. Been a while, hasn't it?" the girl says, lighthearted and cheerful despite the circumstances.

"Oh...hello. Sorry about this...some stuff went down, and, well…"

Remi, along with the rest of his team, had been friends with Mayday and Zuke since the end of the Rock Revolution incident about a year ago. However, they hadn't talked since Sayu's first boot a month and a half ago.

"Oh yeah. Trust me, we've been told all about it," Zuke says.

"Really? Who told you?" Remi is curious now. He wasn't aware that B2J was being kept in the loop.

"Your friends, Tatiana, and all the news going on right now...everyone's riled up about this," Zuke responds.

"Yep. We'd love to chit-chat, but there's something more important going on right now." Mayday comes in after Zuke. Their synchronicity, even in conversation, is astounding.

_ Great. More bad news. Awesome… _

"I'm just gonna cut to the chase here...We might know who that android is," Zuke says solemnly.

"...Elaborate."

"Here's the story. After one of our shows a few months ago, someone who looked and acted exactly like them tried to attack us on our way back."

"Once we took them out, we asked who they were. Before they blew up, they told us: '...Don't have a name. I work for him...somebody you're great friends with.'"

"...Hold on. Blew up? How would they be the same person then?"

"Never said they were the same person," Zuke replies again. "But they probably work for the same person."

"I see. Who is this 'great friend' of yours, then?"

The two close their eyes, and go silent for a while. Then, Mayday suddenly speaks in a grave tone: "Kliff."

_ Kliff. Where have I...oh. _ Kliff, the man who nearly nearly destroyed Vinyl City out of pitiful anger. He was jailed at the end of the revolution, but broke out half a year ago.

"...Have you told the others about this?"

"Yeah. The police, your team, Sayu, and Tatiana. The other big-name artists probably got warned, too." Zuke stands still; the grave nature of these words are evident.

"Fantastic. So now, we're all at risk of being attacked by a maniac's personal squad of robotic hitmen. Just the news I wanted…"

The three just stand in silence for some time. Mayday is the one to break it once more.

"Hey, want some ice cream?" She pulls out a wrapped ice cream cone from her bag. Remi quickly grabs it.

"Thanks."

\----------

In the middle of her home, Sayu floats around aimlessly. She could be doing something. She has plenty to work on, but her motivation is at an all time low.

Stricter security measures had been put in place after the incident, and getting inside is much harder. That, combined with the harsh experience of lacking a leader (albeit temporarily), means that the team hasn't visited her since.

...She decides that she must do something. She materializes a small, thin rectangular object, with no notable features. Afterwards, she thinks for a brief moment, and then summons what appears to be a digital pen.

The mermaid starts to draw. What she draws is meaningless; they're scribbles of varying colors with no discernible pattern. Still, she enjoyed it. If she had nothing to draw, then this was the best she could do. She would draw until something came to her.

Before she can think of something, however, she receives a video call from Tila. After readying the camera viewpoint, she picks up.

"Hello? Mommy?"

"Hi, sweetie...I want to let you know that Tatiana called a meeting for the top-level NSR members. It's tomorrow at noon."

"Is it about what I think it's about? And how can I show up anyway?"

"...Yes. It is. And a new projector came in, so I'll call you a little early tomorrow to get it all ready."

"...Mommy? Are you okay? You don't sound good."

"...Yep. It's nothing...just a little tired. Bye…"

Tila hangs up. Sayu picks up her drawing. After looking at it for a few seconds, she violently throws it off the platform.

_ She's lying. She's not okay. None of us are okay, and we can't do anything about it... _

...She decides to go to sleep before these thoughts get out of hand.

\---------

At their workstations, the team does a whole lot of absolutely nothing. Tila is face-down on her desk, utterly drained of any will to work. Dodo is just staring out the back window, and Sofa...well, Sofa actually is working on something. Ironically, trying times like these are when he's the most energized and motivated. (Good on you, Sofa.)

"Guys? Want me to get you all something to eat? It's getting to be around dinnertime," Sofa asks.

Dodo doesn't respond. Tila merely shakes her head without even bothering to raise it off the desk.

"...Hmph." Sofa gets out of his chair and leaves the room.

_ Well, I know what they like...I'll get food for them anyway. _

He takes the nearby stairs down to the lobby, and promptly exits the building.

The team's preferences in food are quite eccentric. Tila will eat nearly anything, including strange foods such as insects and octopi. In contrast, Dodo is extremely picky. Unfortunately, his tastes cater almost entirely to ludicrously sweet things. Sofa himself prefers large, hearty meat and vegetable dishes, but ends up getting fast food most of the time, as cooking isn't a skill any of the team is particularly good at. Remi isn't huge on vegetables, but he does absolutely adore pasta and bread of nearly any kind.

And so, Sofa heads to the nearby hot dog stand, where he's a regular customer. When he arrives, the stand owner greets him.

"Hey, it's my favorite customer! Watcha' want?"

"Two, please. One without mustard."

"Comin' right up!"

As the owner deftly prepares the hot dogs, Sofa pulls out a five-dollar bill from his pocket and places it on the counter. It's more than what his order costs, but he doesn't feel like asking for change, especially not with how nice the owner is.

After a short time, Sofa takes the food and swiftly walks off. He wants to avoid public appearances as much as possible; being identified as one of the Sayu team members always causes a huge fuss, especially here in the Akusuka district.

He walks to the convenience store a few blocks down. After entering, he scans through the food section for something sweet. Soon, he finds a bag of heavily frosted cookies. The thought of eating something with that much sugar is repulsive to him, but Dodo loves the things, so he picks them up and moves to the checkout counter. 

Sofa puts the cookies down along with two dollar bills. With a bored expression, the cashier scans them in and hands the change over. Sofa quickly shoves the change in his pocket, then leaves the store.

After leaving, he finds himself heading the wrong direction. Normally, at this time he would be heading to Italian place down the road for takeout.

"...Oh yeah. He's not here…"

Sofa turns around, and walks back to the small office building using the back streets.

When he makes it back, he finds that neither of the other two had moved an inch. He sets down one of the hot dogs, now only warm, next to Tila. She raises her head.

"I thought you might have been hungry," Sofa says.

After taking the time to readjust her glasses, she smiles, and responds with a weak "Thanks."

Noticing the commotion, Dodo looks back. After meeting his gaze, Sofa tosses the cookies across the room. Dodo gracefully catches them. After realizing what they are, his eyes go wide with excitement.

"Ah! T-Thank you very much," he stammers.

"No problem."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man


	7. Welcome to the Show

At the top of NSR Tower, Tatiana stands in her office, along with Tila, Dodo, and Sofa.

"Try it now, Sayu. I think I set it up right this time," Sofa says to Sayu through video chat on his own laptop.

Without saying a word, Sayu disappears from the other end. Soon, the connected projector begins to hum. The projector warms up for a few seconds; then, the pink, bubbly mermaid appears as a three-dimensional hologram, nearly indistinguishable from her actual model.

"Testing, one two three...you all can hear me, right?" asks Sayu.

"Yes," Sofa responds, after breathing a sigh of relief.

"Good. So...what do I do?"

Tila, taking the burden of explaining what a professional meeting is upon herself, begins to speak. "...You listen to what the speaker has to say. If you have a question, you raise your hand or politely ask and then wait for the speaker to call on you. That's about it. Also, it's considered rude to be doing something else when you should be listening."

"...Sounds boring."

"Too bad. It has to be done." Tila speaks with a fed-up tone.

"Hmph…"

On the other side of the room, Dodo is conversing with Tatiana.

"So...you think that whoever attacked us is going to do the same to the rest of NSR soon, correct?"

"Correct, Dodo. The news I received from some friends of mine has only reaffirmed my view."

"Interesting...who are these friends you speak of?"

"Well...you'll find out soon, dear." Tatiana, despite the circumstances, is actually in a good mood.

"I see. Well then, I shall relay the important information presented in this upcoming meeting to our leader."

"Ah, yes, about Remi...is he still alright? I've been very busy lately, so I haven't been able to keep up with him…"

"He is doing very well. He should be able to rejoin us within a few days."

"Good! But, uh, can you tell him not to go chasing after murderous robots any more?"

Dodo looks away for a little bit; the topic is sensitive, and he needs the time to formulate a response.

Finally, he looks back at Tatiana and says: "...He does not remember why he was facing his assailant. In fact, whenever the topic comes up, he appears...distressed. I apologize."

"Oh...I wasn't aware of that. It's fine, then. I don't want to stress him more."

The conversation ends somewhat awkwardly. The two stare off at Vinyl City's skyline through the window; Tatiana had never bothered to get her stained-glass paintings replaced after they were destroyed a year ago.

Back with the other team members, Sayu is floating still with her eyes closed. She appears to be in some kind of dormant state.

Sofa, concerned, asks: "You alright, Sayu?"

"Yep. I'm working on a program. Don't mind me…" Sayu quickly responds. (Sayu doesn't need an interface to write code...or most other things, really.)

"Oh, cool. What's it do?"

"It's a secret."

"Oh…"

\----------

Within the hour, all of NSR's highest ranking members had gathered in Tatiana's office.

DJ Subatomic Supernova, the mega-egotistical DJ who claims to be the "avatar of earth." He can give lectures that are somehow immensely intriguing and mind-numbingly boring at the same time. 

Sayu, the cute, bubbly digital mermaid who tends to have rather "dedicated" fans. Originally made and controlled by a team of four, she has recently evolved into a fully-fledged artificial intelligence.

Yinu, the child piano prodigy that is always watched over by her mother. Has a bratty side, although she's been getting better about it recently.

1010, the robotic navy-themed boy band that can be replicated on demand. They're led by a cyborg war-veteran named Neon J.

Eve, the mystifying musician and artist with a very unique sense of beauty and style. It's unknown how she can perform her sometimes reality-bending tricks.

Tatiana, the orderly leader of NSR who may or may not have time-bending abilities. Many claim that she is actually the legendary guitarist Kul Fyra; she has never affirmed nor denied these statements.

These six (well, five, technically) make up NSR's Elites. However, there is a guest here at the meeting tonight…

Bunk Bed Junction, the now-famous indie rock duo who instigated the Rock Revolution. The drummer, Zuke, is laid-back and calm (mostly), while the guitarist, Mayday, is always fired-up and ready to go, sometimes to a fault.

"Now, before we begin, are there any preliminary questions that need to be answered?" Tatiana says to the musicians.

"Yes. Why are those two here?" DJSS asks. He points at Zuke and Mayday.

"Because they have important information about the topic at hand," Tatiana replies, anger clear in her voice.

DJSS responds only by leaning back in his chair and scoffing.

"...Right. Any more questions? No? Then let's move on. As I'm sure you all know, a few weeks ago, an unknown perpetrator attempted to sabotage and destroy the supercomputer responsible for managing Sayu. This person was described as a 'tall, metallic black android with a large, brown, and torn cloak,' and they also seriously injured Remi while attempting to carry out their plan. This is old news...however, recently, Bunk Bed Junction came out with evidence that has...alarming implications. Please inform us about this, you two."

Zuke and Mayday exchange glances for a brief moment before nodding at each other. Then, Mayday, after taking a deep breath, begins her explanation. "...Right. Basically, about two months ago, me and Zuke were attacked by someone on our way back from our show. They looked exactly like our culprit...but that's just the beginning! After we took 'em out, we asked them who they were...and they said that they worked for somebody that we're 'great friends with.' Then they blew up...not sure if I hit them too hard, or it was some kind of self-destruct switch...Anyways, me and Zuke thought about that for a while, and then we finally figured out who this 'friend' is...Kliff." A few of the artists gasp at the revelation.

Eve is the first one to question Bunk Bed Junction's statement. "...And what makes you think that these androids work for Kliff?"

"Well...we're guessing, here," Zuke says. "But, for one, Kliff escaped from jail about half a year ago, right? He's the kind of guy to formulate a plan for months just to get someone back...right, Tatiana?"

"...He's certainly a persistent little pest," she responds.

"Along with that, we did work with Kliff for a while--" Zuke is interrupted by an elbow jab from Mayday. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You realize what you're saying is only making us look more suspicious, right?" Mayday says in a trying-to-whisper-but-everyone-can-hear-me-still voice.

"Everyone here already knows that we helped him, May! There's no point in hiding it!" Zuke says in a similarly 'hushed' voice. "Right. As I was saying, since we worked with him, we did consider him a 'friend' for a while...kinda."

After some thought, Eve replies. "I suppose that makes sense...Do we have any information on Kliff's whereabouts at the moment?"

"No," Tatiana begins. "I ask the police regularly, and they say, repeatedly, that there are no reports about him, despite his status as a wanted criminal."

"Wonderful. Zero leads, then."

"I'm afraid so...still, I find Bunk Bed Junction's explanation to be quite convincing. Regardless of your own opinions, everyone, I advise you to be extremely cautious. Some of you are capable of holding your own in a fight...but these people aren't looking for a friendly brawl. Are there any more questions?"

"YES!" Neon J begins to speak using a volume that's much louder than necessary. "Shouldn't we mobilize a search force to find our perpetrator?"

Tatiana, raising her voice, responds. "The police are already looking...Who else do you suggest?"

"The military, of course!"

Everyone else present responds with varying degrees of shock. Sayu and Yinu appear confused; Dodo and Yinu's mother give Neon J a sharp glare; Zuke, Sofa, and DJSS plant their heads firmly into their palm, while Tatiana and Tila plant their heads firmly onto the table; Eve dramatically rolls her eyes; Mayday nods in agreement; and the 1010 members simply stand unfazed.

Nearly ten seconds later, once everyone recollects themselves, Tatiana begins to speak once more, in a tone that screams 'I'd strangle you right now if I could': "...One, we do not have direct control over the military. Two, they wouldn't agree to work with us on this anyway. Three, they aren't trained for criminal investigation...Please put more than two seconds of thought into something before you suggest it next time."

"Fine! I'll do it myself, then. Come on, boys. We've got work to do…" " **Aye-aye, sir!** " Neon J promptly leaves the room, taking 1010 with him.

After an awkward silence, Zuke asks something. "...Should I be...uh, worried?"

"...Probably," Eve says.

\----------

"Thank you, Dodo. Your summary was excellent." Remi speaks to Dodo over a video call.

"...I wish you could have joined us. Some of it was much more amusing in person."

"Really? I didn't think any of it would be funny, given the topic…"

"Trust me. The entire room, including myself, was dumbstruck at Neon J's idea...It is surprising that we did not all burst out in laughter."

"Wow. He never seemed like the kind of guy to do something like that...then again, I've never talked to him much."

"I concur. Tatiana sounded like she had heard the most ridiculous, stupid concept imaginable."

"It might have been."

"True…"

"...I guess I'll see you later, then. I should be able to head back tomorrow night."

"Goodbye. We are all waiting for you here...morale has been very, very low since you were hospitalized."

"...Sorry." He cuts the call. 

He had never thought himself to be all that important to the team's cohesion. However, he had heard that everyone, Tila especially, is very distressed because of him. Perhaps his leadership skills had evolved ever since being forced into the position…

He still can't remember why he was down there. By no means should he have attempted to attack someone like them. But he did...and frankly, he's afraid he would do it again. Maybe he doesn't remember because there never was a reason. There's a burning feeling that he's missing something obvious, but even after asking the rest of his team, he had come no closer to figuring it out.

_...I should get some sleep. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, Neon J fans...he just seems like the kind of person to have really bad ideas a lot of the time.


	8. Hurting, Crying, Laughing

"I'm baaaaaack!" Remi yells as he enters his team's office. He intended to surprise them.

_...Hold on. Where are they? _

The team is nowhere to be found.

"...Alright, you can come out now. Joke's not funny anymore."

He checks the closet. No one. He checks underneath the tables. No one. He even checks the halls outside...nope.

_ Okay, this is weird. I told them I'd meet them here… _

He sends a message to his friends. No response...in fact, they're all offline. He waits nearly ten minutes, and nobody replies.

"All right, this is getting ridiculous!"

He looks all around the room, looking for something out of place. Soon, he spots a small piece of paper taped to the back of the door. It reads "COME TO STREAM HUB," in perfectly printed letters, evidently produced by a computer.

_...I finally get out of the hospital, and now something dangerous might be happening again. I'm gonna pop a blood vessel one of these days… _

He decides to leave most of his things here. The only things he takes with him are his phone, wallet, and now-dulled pocket knife.

\----------

Remi stands in front of the Kura-Kura Stream Hub. The front door is unguarded, surprisingly. This only worries him further, though. It either means the guards don't care enough...or were taken out by some other means. Neither possibility is thrilling, to say the least. Regardless, he steps forward, sliding his authentication card through the device to unlock the door.

The device does not beep. In fact, the device isn't even on! The front door is completely unlocked and unguarded.

_ Are you kidding me!? The locks, too? What a security issue… _

As he walks through the door, he notices that the lights are dim. Very, very dim. If it wasn't for the natural glow of the rails, it would be nearly pitch-black.

_ I...I don't even know anymore. I really should leave… _

He presses forward with the assistance of his phone's flashlight function. The platforms are all in their normal positions, at least. Slowly, he rides from platform to platform, getting closer to the center where Sayu normally stays.

...He's scared. He was always afraid of the dark, and trying to maneuver around on floating platforms in the dark? He might pass out, if only he weren't so worried about his friends.

While riding the final rail, he spots something glowing on the platform in front of him. After hopping off, he approaches it; it's a large, unlabeled blue button.

"...Well, screw it. I'm in too deep now…"

He pushes the button. Instantly, he's blinded by the lighting returning to normal.

"Gah!..."

He starts to topple over. Before he completely falls to the ground, however, he hears someone yelling.

"I found you, Daddy!~"

He doesn't have time to react. He's quickly grabbed by an unseen force...into a hug.

"Ehek!"

...He's not afraid anymore. The fear in his mind leaves, and is replaced entirely with anger.

"SAAAAAAAYUUUUUUUUUUUU!" He struggles his way out of the hug and onto the ground below. His vision has returned.

She begins to laugh. Somehow, the situation has shifted from serious to comedic in a matter of moments…

"What was that all about!? You nearly gave me a goddamn heart attack! How in the name of all that is holy do you think this is funny!?"

"Haha...oh, it's just…I've never seen you act this angry before, and…"

"...And what? WHAT!? What kind of justification could you possibly have!?"

She stops. Apparently all the yelling got through to her.

"...Payback for making us all worried, I guess."

"...Huh?" He turns around, and sees the rest of his team a couple of meters away. They all have smirks on their faces.

"We thought it would be fun to scare you after all you put us through, y'know? We were all so depressed, and sad, and--"

"No, no. I understand. I--" Tears start to flow down Remi's face, and his speech becomes shaky. "I get it all. I-I know. I nearly got myself k-killed...and worried you all so much, and...Ha. Ahahaha...I c-can't even keep myself together, m-much less someone else…"

Remi crumbles to the ground.

"D-Daddy?" Sayu attempts to help Remi up, but he swats her away.

"A-And the only t-thing I can do...is grin a-and bear it! It's s-still my fault--"

"Remi, please--" Tila yells out through, but is interrupted.

"It hurts! It all h-hurts so...much. The confusion. The a-anger. T-The fear. The g-guilt...it hurts. Stop. Stop. Talking hurts. Breathing hurts. Thinking hurts--"

Remi is interrupted by muffled sobbing, followed by faint speech.

"...I'm sorry," Tila says, trying her hardest to not completely break down.

"...Ti...la?"

"I'm sorry. I...I didn't...I--" But she does. Bawling like a child, she crawls over to Remi.

"Tila?" He sits up, still on the ground.

She attempts to wrap her shaky arms around him, but fails.

"...Tila? What's...wrong?" His words are awkwardly paced, but relatively clear.

"...I...hurt you."

"...That's fine. I'm used to being hurt."

"That doesn't...that...that's not fine. Not...fine."

"That's what a leader has to do, right? So it's fine."

"Shut...shut up. You're not...a leader. You're our friend. You're...my best friend. And I...helped turn you into this...emotional trainwreck. And...all I'm doing is…"

"...Tila?"

"...crying about myself. I'm sorry...I'm sorry, I'm sorry...I didn't mean...to hurt you."

"...Really?"

She doesn't respond. She's busy crying.

Remi looks up. A few steps away, Sayu stares down at the two. Her expression is blank, but her fists are curled.

_...How could I...let this happen?  _ Sayu thinks to herself.

Dodo and Sofa stand on the other side of Remi. Dodo is staring at the ground, while Sofa has his head buried in his hands; he's crying as well.

Remi thinks. He thinks for a long time.

_ Did they...hurt me? Did I...hurt them? No, that's a silly question. I know that both happened. Is this...normal? Should we be hurting each other?...No, I don't think so. _

_ So _

_ why _

_ did _

_ we? _

...He cannot come up with an answer. Some things...simply don't work on logic.

"...I'm sorry too, then."

"...Huh? But--" Tila is interrupted once more.

"No buts. We're all sorry, right? Then we should move on and try to do better next time."

"...Okay. I'll try. But...what about you? Are you...okay?"

"Nope. I know this, though...You've helped me far more than you've ever hurt me. Thank you."

Remi stands up while helping Tila up as well. The other three watch as a sense of relief floods the area. Tila's face is a bright red...Remi's is too.

"You...big dork…"

\----------

_ Diary Entry 3407 _

_...Lots happened today. Tila had a bright idea to get back at Remi as he came back. It...backfired. I am not a therapist, but… _

_ Well, Remi had a breakdown because of it. And so did Tila. And so did the rest of us, probably. _

_ I have always been worried about Remi. He seemed the most prone to poor mental health, and I must say I have never been more worried about the poor boy than today. I can only be glad he did not injure himself. _

_ Sayu required consoling afterwards. It seems that seeing her parents like that was not comforting, to say the least. Thankfully, I seem to have a penchant for calming her down, as Remi and Tila were not exactly fit to explain what happened. _

_ Sofa went and bought us some of the best food he could find us afterwards. It was definitely good...and cheered us up. He is good at doing that, I have found. _

_ Also, this may be uncouth...but Remi and Tila are very cute together. I feel dirty saying something like this... _

_ I will not be forgetting this night anytime soon. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do I continue to hurt Remi  
> also, "light tila/remi teasing" lol I'll have to change the tags  
> On a more serious note, I apologize if any of you are disappointed/angry at the inconsistent tone here. Sometimes my writing takes a turn for the dark before I even realize it...


	9. Dreams of Sunshine

Remi walks through the interior of the stream hub. He's seen the scenery here many times; in fact, he designed most of it. So he doesn't exactly stop for sightseeing. He's on his way to the center platform to talk with Sayu.

He glances at his phone.  _ 02:13 AM...My sleep schedule is even more screwed than usual. Still not sure why I've been having so many problems sleeping...and it's not like talking to her is gonna help. _

It's true: ever since his hospitalization, he's had more problems sleeping than ever before. At first, he chalked it up to the injury, but now, weeks later, he still finds himself lying in bed for hours to no avail. He hasn't talked about it to anyone.

He approaches the edge of the platform. He instinctively hops on to the rail from the transport device, and begins sliding down at a high speed.  _...Hmm. Why haven't we made something safer than this yet? Maybe, like...a bridge? Dunno. Maybe I'll remember to ask… _

After jumping off at the end of the rail, he starts off on his way once more...only to hear talking in the distance. He stops dead in his tracks. 

_...Stop worrying. You don't even know who's over there yet. It could just be Sayu talking to herself. _

Shaking off the worry, he runs over to the next rail, and hops on. By the time he makes it to the platform, he has spotted two figures in the distance.

_ One of them looks like Sayu. The other one? Not so sure...I need to get closer. _

He quickly heads over to the final rail separating him and the center platform. He jumps on. On his way down, he finally identifies the two figures.

_ That's… _

\----------

"So...why do you come here so late at night, Mommy?" Sayu asks Tila.

At this point, Tila's nighttime incursions into the stream hub had become a regular thing; it's only natural that Sayu would be curious.

"Well…It's because I don't like sleeping."

Sayu appears puzzled. "But...you need sleep, right? Even I need to!"

_ Of course. That doesn't mean I need to like it.  _ "Well...yeah, but...I get nightmares whenever I'm asleep. Ever since I was little, I've had to deal with constant sleep terrors...So, I just try to sleep as little as I can."  _ Not like sleeping would end up much better, anyways. I don't get good sleep… _

Sayu takes some time to think. Then, she replies. "Nightmares...they're dreams, right? Mommy, what are dreams like?"

_ Oh. I forgot. She wouldn't know what dreams are…  _ "It's...really hard to explain, but I'll try. Basically, when a human is sleeping, the brain plays out fake events based on what it knows. They almost never make sense, and you're not really able to do anything except watch most of the time. They're usually forgotten before you wake up."

"'Never make sense?' What do you mean?"

"It's like the rules of the world don't really work. For example, you could look at a clock, look at something else, then look back and see that the time completely changed. Or, you could fall forever, or fly, or...all kinds of strange things."

"Really? Wow...Well, what's a nightmare? I don't think it's a horse…"

_ Dang. She sure got the point quickly… _ "A nightmare is like a dream, but...bad. Scary, horrible...something you don't want to see."

"...Oh. That…"

_ Sucks? Yeah, I know. Believe me. _ "It's alright, sweetie. I've learned to deal with them."

"...There's no way to get rid of them, Mommy?"

"There are, but...the methods hurt more than they help."

The frown on Sayu's face turns into a pout. "That's stupid! Why were humans designed like that?"

_ Uh...I don't think I can explain the multitude of theories about this…  _ "...Sweetie, we don't know. We're too hard to understand. Let's just...move on now, please."  _ This conversation is half a step away from getting extremely awkward… _

"Hmph...Okay. What now, then?" Sayu still seems upset, but thankfully, she's pretty easy to calm down.

"Hmm…"

The two stay silent for a bit, thinking of new conversation topics. Tila is the first to say something.

"Have you been working on anything recently? We haven't. We're still trying to get back into our workflow…"

"Yep! It's a program that I haven't been able to test yet. I'm making good progress, though!"

"Really? Cool. What does it do?"

"Um...it's a secret. Sorry."

_...Uh oh. I don't like this.  _ "...Why? Is it dangerous? Something bad?"

"W-Well...it d-depends…"

_ Now I really don't like this!  _ "Okay...serious talk here, sweetie. Please tell me. I need to make sure you're not going to hurt yourself."

Sayu takes a deep breath. Then, at a high speed, she begins to explain: "It's a program that I'll use if I ever need to temporarily wirelessly take over an android unit for safety purposes that also allows me to hijack an access point in order to do so! There! Happy!?"

The anger in Sayu's voice stuns Tila. After a few seconds, she regains her composure, and replies. "...I understood half of that, at least. You can...control an android with it? Is that right?"

"...Yes." There were a few more caveats, but Sayu is more than happy to let them slide.

_ I can see why she's working on it…  _ "In that case, I've got no problem with it. It could be misused, but...I trust you."

"...Huh? That's not what I…"

"Listen. I'm not super nosy...as long as it's not dangerous, I don't really care what you do in your spare time."

"Right. Sorry that I got a little upset…"

"No problem. Happens to all of us."

With this, Tila decides to fall backwards to the ground, from her original sitting position. She stares up at the seemingly endless blue sky. A long period of silence ensues.

…

"Oh! Hi, Daddy!"

"Huh!?" Tila quickly jumps up. She looks to the side and, lo and behold, Remi is standing there as if he had always been there. "What are you doing here!?"

"Geez, what a greeting. Is it really that strange for me to show up here? Besides, I could be saying the same to you. Why are you up so late?"

"Uh...well…"

"She's here because she doesn't want to go to bed yet!" Sayu interjects.

"...Huh. And why is that?" Remi asks.

"She has night--"

Tila rushes over to Sayu and puts her hand over the mermaid's mouth. "Shhh...shuu...shut it, Sayu!" she yells, agitated.

"B-But...what did I--" Sayu tries to say, although it comes out heavily muffled.

"Enough! I'm not telling!"

"...Haha. So this is how you are when you don't get enough sleep."

"Grrr…"

"Relax, relax! You don't have to tell me, it's okay…"

"...Good." Tila takes her hand off Sayu's mouth. She backs off, evidently embarrassed.

"...It's funny, though," Remi says nonchalantly.

"What is?" Tila asks.

"I'm here because I'm having problems sleeping, and you're here because you don't want to sleep."

"...Well, none of us have regular sleep schedules, so…"

"Oh really? Sofa's is perfectly normal, though...Whenever he wants, wherever he wants!"

"That's not a sleep schedule, that's narcolepsy!"

"You say that, but he never seems to have trouble staying awake when he needs to...I think he just really likes sleeping."

"...Yeah, I guess so..."

The mood has changed quickly, as per usual. The two are just chatting as normal, while Sayu sits out, feeling somewhat estranged...

"Hey, Sayu?" Remi says.

"H-Huh? What is it?" She is roped back into the conversation.

"Oh...You're feeling lonely, I see...Sorry. My bad." Whatever question he was going to ask is quickly forgotten, as he recognizes that he was leaving Sayu out of the conversation.

"N-No, don't mind me...I am...kind of lonely, though. I like this place, but I wish I could go somewhere else sometimes."

Remi goes silent. Being reminded of Sayu's real nature brings his mood down considerably.

"I wish I could bring you out more, too. Wait, that sounds weird...anyway, the problem is that so many people know who you are, and who we are, that if we were identified, which has definitely happened a few times before...Let's just say the swarm of fans is a bit more than four people can handle. I guess it wouldn't be as bad if we went to a different district…"

"Right. I know that, but…"

"Tell you what. We can try to go somewhere tomorrow. Our new projector is a lot lighter, so it won't be anywhere near as hard to bring it around."

"R-Really!? Thank you! Thank you so much!" Sayu is ecstatic now, swimming around the area energetically. Tila closes her eyes and grins, while Remi seems more concerned than anything.

"Tila, I know you only mean well, but…"

"Oh, hush. We need to do something fun, anyway. We've all been too sad lately."

"...Right. I'm worrying too much. I should really go get some sleep." Turning his attention to Sayu, he shouts out: "I've gotta go now, Sayu! See you later!" Without waiting for a response, he turns around and heads off.

"Hey, uh, wait for me--See you tomorrow, Sayu!"

"Okay! Bye, Mommy! Bye, Daddy!"

Hastily, Tila follows Remi away. After she catches up with him, he says something to her.

"Oh? You need to go too?"

"Yeah. This isn't a good place to sleep, I've learned."

"Fine by me. I like your company."

"...Me too."

"What'd you say? I couldn't hear."

"Oh, shut up. You heard me just fine…"

"Sorry. Couldn't help it."

"You watch too many slice-of-life love stories...that kind of teasing doesn't work on everyone, you know."

"It worked just then, though."

"No it didn't!"

"...Whatever you say, Tila."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they're cute okay


End file.
